Retainer for bottle-stoppers.



No. 661,789. Patented"Nov. l3,"l900.

' G. T. CHAPMAN Decd.

K. H. CHAPMAN, Administrat ix. RETAINERFOR BOTTLE STOPPERS. (Application medmr. a, 1899.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES lNVE/VTOR THE Noam: wsrcns ca. mo'roun a. WASNINGTON, b. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

GEORGE T. CHAPMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; KEREN H. CHAPMAN ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID GEQRGET. CHAPMAN, DECEASED.

RETAINER FOR BOTTLE-STOPPERS.

3PEGIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 661,789, dated November 13, 1900.

. Application filed March 6, 1899. berial No. 707,898. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE T. CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of New York city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Retainers for Bottle- Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of improvementsin con trivanees of wire retainers having springjaws to grip the neck of the bottle under the head for the connection of the retainer with the bottle and an elastic arm with an elbow extendingupward and over and bearing down on the top of the stopper under tension adapted to maintain pressure to keep the stopper tight, as hereinafter described, reference be-.

tion of the neck of the bottle on line 2 2,

Fig. 1.

The retainer consists, essentially, of a short piece of spring-wire bent double in the middle and preferably so as to form an eyeloop a for bearing on the top of the stopper '0, the two members being bent at right angles at d to reach down one side of the head 6 of the bottle, and said members are looped around each other at f and extended laterally to form jaws f to grip the neck of the bottle under the head for attaching the retain er to the bottle, so as to .be detachable for releasing the stopper. In my improved retainer of this characterl make thecurves of the jaws f on a considerably shorter radius than the radius of the neck of the bottle for which the retainer is designed for two p'urposesfirst, to make the bearing-points h at the extremities of the jaws only,-whereby the grip of the retainer on the neck is much more substantial than when the bearing-grip is intermediate of said points, and, second, the

greater outward projection of the middle portion of the jaws affords good hold for applying the retainer to the bottle directly downward upon the head of the bottle and then pressing on these projections with the thumbs. The said projecting bows are also very advantageous for enabling the retainer to be applied along with the stopper when forced in by mechanical means, the plunger being provided with parts adapted to engage them at the same time that another part takes elfect on the top of the stopper.

Anotherimprovement which'I make in such retainers is to form'eyesj at the ends of the jaws for locking them by the hasp of a padlock or by any kind of a lockinglink forprotectingliquor, medicine, poison, or other hottles from unauthorized opening. Thus the jaws looped around each other atf constitute a practicable lock-up device.

The retainer is detached by holding the bottle in the two hands and applying the thumbs to the extremities of the jaws and pushing them backward, and these eye-terminals also serve for better bearing-points of the thumbs for so detaching the retainer.

These retainers will in practice he made of well-tempered spring-wire adapted for continual use indefinitely.

The object of entirely detaching the fastening from the bottle is very important on account of a prevailing objection and prejudice to wire fastenings which are not detachable and reusable. In pouring eifervescent beverages it is desirable to immerse the head of the bottle to prevent over-filling the glass. Permanent wires become filthy and are consequently-offensive, besides being in the way in wiping the bottle before the beverage is served. This lessens the sale of goods in many places and entirely prevents the sale in neat and orderly restaurants and tidy families. To make it detachable without destroying it is therefore of great commercial advantage.

I am aware of the patent to Wetzel, No. 363,870, in which similar jaws are clasped together at the junction of the jaws and the vertical members for a like purpose; but I only claim such connection by looping them around each other, which is a simpler and cheaper construction. 4 What I claim as my invention is 5 In a bottle-stopper retainer formed of a single piece of spring-Wire and comprising jawsf for gripping the neck of the bottle under the head, vertical members l, and the loop-arm a for bearing on the top of the stop- 10 per; the vertical members Z looped around each other at f, the gripping-jaws bent on a shorter radius than the radius-of the bottle, and also formed with eye-terminals, and all constructed substantially as described.

Signed by me at New York, N. Y., this 27th I5 day of February, 1899.

GEORGE T. CHAPMAN. Witnesses:

A. P. THAYER, C. SEDGWIOK. 

